Wednesday, May 14, 2008

"Direct Sequel" to Romero's Dawn of the Dead in the Works??

Just a few hours ago, Fangoria.com dropped a major bombshell. After a chat with producer Richard Rubenstein, the magazine website reported that Rubenstein--who is George Romero's former business partner and owns the rights to the second and third films in his Dead series--plans on making a sequel to the original Dawn of the Dead.

Now, any fan of Romero's work knows that the sequel to Dawn of the Dead was made 23 years ago, and it's called Day of the Dead. Seems that Mr. Rubenstein is talking about a direct continuation of the events of Dawn--which I'm assuming means that it'll pick up on what happened to Fran and Peter after they escaped the Monroeville Mall. Which is something I would've been interested in--if Romero were doing it. As it stands, I'm sure this is bound to give Romero fits--just the latest injustice committed against him by his one-time collaborator. And as good as the Rubenstein-sanctioned Dawn of the Dead remake turned out to be, I just can't imagine much good coming out of this new project.

Oddly, Fangoria buried the news of the Dawn sequel under their scoop on Rubenstein's planned re-release of the original Dawn of the Dead using 3-D technology. That seems like the secondary news item to me, although it will be cool to see the flick on the big screen. I could do without the 3-D, though--yet another unauthorized bastardization of Romero's hard work. If you ask me, I think whoever came up with the lame-brained idea probably got it from this classic pic:

And while that will certainly make for one hell of a 3-D shot, it doesn't justify an entire movie by any means.

3 comments:

Fran and Petey, now too old to play their parts and being replaced....hmmm yeah, sounds like an awful idea.

If only this were the 1980s and the news just broke....but as it stands now, you're right, it seems like a bad idea. Not to mention, I love the open ended endings to Romero's films. I hate conclusions and it's more fun to imagine what would have happened or at the very least blind oneself into thinking his characters live happy lives until the day they die.

But you're right to mention it would be incredibly unfair to Romero, if he is in fact not involved. Though to be fair, Diary wasn't exactly a masterpiece....

Which horror film *should* be remade?

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I've been fascinated with horror ever since my parents let me watch The Exorcist at 8 years old (what were they thinking??) and I ran up to my bed screaming when Linda Blair's eyes rolled into the back of her head.Although it often gets a bad rap from "mainstream" critics and audiences alike, horror has often been the most creative and vibrant movie genre of all, from Nosferatu to Saw. Some of the finest motion pictures ever made are part of the horror genre, including Frankenstein, Psycho, The Shining and my personal all-time favorite, George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.This blog is the culmination of my 25-year love affair with all things blood and guts--so check back here often for news and opinion on the world of horror. And remember...